Professional Make up versus DIY

[Samantha Red]

Hi Ladies

My wedding is not until April 09, but I am trying to get my head round things a bit. I would be really intereste in opinions regarding make up for the big day. I use make up everyday, mascara, foundation, blusher lip stick and when I got married the first time 15 years ago I did my own. However, this time I will be 43 and my F1 will be 33, and I am very concious of looking ''old''. I though this is where a really good make up artist will be helpful........ What did others do, and how did you go about finding a professional that you were happy with?

 

[surfgirl]

I''m 46 and I never ever wear make up so I''m fairly make up illiterate...but I went to Trish McEvoy counter and the first girl gave me a make up makeover for a wedding, and I looked like an over-tanned street walker! So I went back another day and got someone else who did a much more minimal job for me and I ended up doing my own make up and it seemed to work out fine. I''m happy with how I looked, the photos looked great, and my guy didn''t think I looked really different than usual, which was a concern to both of us. You have plenty of time to practice!

 

[jesterjigger]

I would get it done professionally if you can find someone good to do it. I had mine done and my skin just glowed...absolutely glowed. Plus she knew stuff about shading that I had had no clue about, and she spent so much time making my skin look perfect, it was completely worth the cost.

 

[basil]

I''m getting mine professionally done, but that''s cause I don''t wear make-up on a regular basis and I wouldn''t know where to start. I would probably spend close to the same amount on buying all my own make-up than I''m spending just to get it done, and it''s one less thing for me to worry about.

If I were so inclined, though, what I would do is do a bunch of trials, then photograph myself in different lighting and see how it comes out. Until I could do it consistently enough to have confidence that it looked good.

 

[april diamonds]

I am also looking for a makeup artist for my wedding. A couple people told me I could just do it msyelf, but I am not a makeup person and really don''t know how to do anything. (unless chapstick counts?!) I just want to find someone who can give me a natural look, but a WOW natural look? Does that make any sense?

Anyway, to answer your question, I''ve been bascially emailing around contacts that I''ve found through googling and referrals. Asking them their prices, availability and philosphy. Some of them are more bridal-y some of them are more high fashion. The next step for me is to actually just go chat with them or have trials.

I would recommend asking your friends for referrals or going to a store and asking one of the ladies there to give you a make over, like surfgirl did. that way you can see how they work and chat with them at the same time to see if you click. It''s less hassel than googling around for pepole and then making appts.

 

[brgirl]

Well, my sister got married in Jamaica, so before the wedding, she went to the Bobbi Brown makeup counter (with an appointment) and had them give her a bridal look and explain everything to her so she could do it herself in Jamaica. (but she is totally a make-up girl, so didn''t need much explaining).
She looked wonderful in her pictures (but is also a natural beauty)..

So, for my wedding, I have no malls by me to even have someone there do my makeup...so, my sister and I went to the Bobbi Brown counter at home, and had them give me a bridal look while she took notes on what to do. So she is going to do my make-up for the wedding. We did a trial run already and will do another one before the wedding, but the pictures looked great! I was very impressed with Bobbi Brown makeup. We also got very lucky because the girl from the Bobbi Brown counter who did my makeup is a professional bridal make-up artist on the side. So she kept talking about ''bridal and camera-ready.'' She explained about shading and contouring. I learned a lot!!

Wedding is in a month, so I''ll let you be the judge of how well the make-up turned out!